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Fight for your right to net neutrality … with a VPN

There’s been a lot of talk lately regarding our dearly departed net neutrality. Back in December, the US administration’s FCC undid the last administration’s net neutrality laws, created in 2015. Those laws designated the internet as a utility, which meant Internet Service Providers (ISPs) were required to treat all lawful internet content equally and without prejudice.

In a 3-2 vote, the current FCC board ruled that the internet should not be classified as a utility but instead as an “information service.” And just like that, regulations fall away and ISPs are free to dole out their internet services in whatever manner they please. And please … you can be sure that they are essentially moving from obedient butler to master of the house.

Why the change in rules matter?

How might this play out in the real world? Wouldn’t surprise us if an ISP blocks a streaming services that competes with its own on-demand options, or just throws the competitor in a “slow lane” that sabotages performance. Then again, the ISP might just decide to charge you an additional monthly fee if you want to get the best quality from your favorite streaming service.

Censorship is also high on the crap-to-be-concerned-about list. ISPs can now block access to any website they choose, whether it’s for political or competitive reasons. They can focus resources on sites they like, and throttle the ones they don’t.

Hey, if we’re lucky, none of that will happen. Competition will keep the big ISPs from misbehaving, and your internet access won’t be affected. But just in case it doesn’t go down that way, now might be a good time to explore how a VPN can help you retain some of that good, old-fashioned net neutrality even still.

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. It forms a private, encrypted connection between you and a VPN server, which hides your internet activity from anyone who might be watching — a cybercriminal, a data tracker, and, yes, even your ISP. How does that help with net neutrality? Well, your ISP can’t block what it can’t see. It can’t slow down your streaming movie if it doesn’t see what you are streaming. All that the ISP sees is an IP address from a nearby VPN router. Your internet activity is hidden in plain sight, which prohibits the ISP from giving any preferential treatment.

Yes, some ISPs have gotten wise to VPNs, and while they can’t break through the VPN encryption to regulate your internet experience, they can throttle the speed, or try to block VPNs entirely. It’s not so easy though. Their tactics may work on older VPN protocols like PPTP, but they can’t manage to outsmart the latest protocols like OpenVPN.

The fight for net neutrality isn’t over. Many states and consumer advocacy groups have filed lawsuits over the repeal, and Congress is considering legislation to officially enact some new net neutrality laws. But for now, it doesn’t hurt to understand your options and learn how a VPN like HideMyAss! can help fight for your right to an open, equal internet.